Vane pump apparatus

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a vane pump apparatus. The disclosed vane pump apparatus comprises a housing having an outlet channel; a reservoir tank which stores working oil and which is coupled to the housing; and a vane pump installed inside the reservoir tank to discharge the compressed working oil to the outlet channel.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a vane pump apparatus and, moreparticularly, to a vane pump apparatus which includes a vane pumpdisposed inside a reservoir tank, thereby preventing an increase inmanufacturing costs of the vane pump.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, vehicles and other apparatuses using hydraulic pressure areprovided with a vane pump to supply hydraulic pressure.

A body of the vane pump is provided with a cam ring, a vane, and arotor, which is coupled to a shaft rotated by a drive unit and isthereby rotated by the shaft.

When the rotor and the vane are rotated, hydraulic oil is suctioned intoand compressed by the vane pump and is then supplied to a hydraulicline.

A reservoir tank for supplying the hydraulic oil to the vane pump isdisposed independent of the vane pump and is connected thereto via aconnection pipe. Alternatively, the reservoir tank may be directlymounted on the vane pump.

It should be noted that the above description is provided forunderstanding of the background art and is not a description of awell-known conventional technique.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

Since a conventional vane pump is entirely or partially exposed to anatmosphere, a rubber sealing member is provided to the vane pump toprevent leakage of oil from the vane pump and it is necessary tooverhaul the sealing member to prevent oil leakage from the vane pump,thereby increasing manufacturing costs of the vane pump. Therefore,there is a need for an improved vane pump which does not suffer fromsuch problems.

The present disclosure is directed to solving such problems of therelated art and an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a vanepump apparatus that can prevent an increase in manufacturing costsrelating to installation of a sealing member for preventing oil leakagefrom a vane pump, an increase in the difficulty of assembly resultingfrom the installation of the sealing member, and additional overhaulrelating to oil leakage.

Technical Solution

In accordance with one aspect, a vane pump apparatus includes: a housinghaving an outlet channel; a reservoir tank coupled to the housing andreceiving hydraulic oil; and a vane pump disposed inside the reservoirtank and discharging the compressed hydraulic oil to the outlet channel.

The housing may be a sidewall body or a motor housing.

The vane pump apparatus may further include a sealing ring between thehousing and the reservoir tank to prevent leakage of the oil.

The vane pump may be formed at a front side thereof with a suction port,through which the hydraulic oil is suctioned into the vane pump, and adischarge port communicating with the outlet channel.

The vane pump may further include a suction connecting channel definedaround the suction port and separated from the housing.

The vane pump apparatus may further include a valve housing, which isintegrally formed with the vane pump and on which a relief valve ismounted.

Advantageous Effects

In the vane pump apparatus according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure, since a vane pump is disposed inside a reservoir tank, whichaccommodates hydraulic oil, in order to cope with any possible problemrelated to oil leakage from the vane pump, the vane pump may eliminate asealing member, thereby reducing manufacturing costs through a decreasein the number of overhaul operations and components of the vane pumpapparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a vane pump apparatusaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a suction port and a discharge port of a vane pump of FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is an assembled perspective view of the vane pump apparatus ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side-sectional view of the vane pump apparatus taken alongline A-A in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side-sectional view of the vane pump apparatus taken alongline B-B in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the vane pump apparatus taken alongline C-C in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a front view of the vane pump apparatus taken along line D-Din FIG. 4, showing a front body of the vane pump apparatus; and

FIG. 8 is a front view of the vane pump apparatus taken along line E-Ein FIG. 4, showing a side plate of the vane pump apparatus.

BEST MODE

Exemplary embodiments will now be described in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings. For convenience of description, a vane pumpapparatus designed to compress hydraulic oil though rotation of vaneswill be illustrated herein. It should be noted that the drawings are notto precise scale and may be exaggerated in thickness of lines or sizesof components for descriptive convenience and clarity. Furthermore, theterms as used herein are defined by taking functions of the presentdisclosure into account and can be changed according to the custom orintention of users or operators. Therefore, definition of the termsshould be made according to the overall disclosure set forth herein.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a vane pump apparatusaccording to an exemplary embodiment, FIG. 2 shows a suction port and adischarge port of a vane pump of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an assembledperspective view of the vane pump apparatus of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is aside-sectional view of the vane pump apparatus taken along line A-A inFIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a side-sectional view of the vane pump apparatus takenalong line B-B in FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the vanepump apparatus taken along line C-C in FIG. 4, FIG. 7 is a front view ofthe vane pump apparatus taken along line D-D in FIG. 4, showing a frontbody of the vane pump apparatus, and FIG. 8 is a front view of the vanepump apparatus taken along line E-E in FIG. 4, showing a side plate ofthe vane pump apparatus.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the vane pump apparatus according to oneembodiment includes a housing 70 defining an outlet channel 74 therein,a reservoir tank 1 coupled to the housing 70 and receiving hydraulic oil90, and a vane pump 10 disposed inside the reservoir tank 1 anddischarging the hydraulic oil 90 to the outside through the outletchannel 74 after compressing the hydraulic oil 90.

In one embodiment, the housing 70 may be a sidewall or a motor housing,which remains stationary. Here, it should be understood that any membermay be used as the housing 70 so long as the member can be coupled tothe reservoir tank 1 and store the hydraulic oil 90.

As shown in FIG. 4, the housing 70 is formed with the outlet channel 74connected to a discharge port 84 of the vane pump 10 to receive thecompressed hydraulic oil 90 and a hydraulic supply hole 72 connected tothe outlet channel 74 to supply the hydraulic oil 90 to a hydraulicline.

In FIG. 1, the surface of the housing 70 coupled to the vane pump 10 isformed with fastening holes 77, to which fastening bolts 18 of the vanepump 10 are coupled, and the outlet channel 74 connected to thedischarge port 84 of the vane pump 10.

Further, the housing 70 is provided with a shaft connecting hole 76 intowhich a shaft 80 of the vane pump 10 to be coupled to the housing 70 isinserted. The shaft 80 may be operated by a motor secured to a sidewallthrough the shaft connecting hole 76 or may be directly connected to themotor to be operated by the motor.

Alternatively, the shaft 80 may be connected to other power sourcesinstead of the motor and may receive rotating power therefrom.

The reservoir tank 1 is coupled to the housing 70 to define a space inwhich the hydraulic oil 90 is stored, and may have a variety of shapesincluding a cylindrical shape.

The reservoir tank 1 is provided at one side thereof with a connectionpipe 3, which defines a channel for receiving hydraulic oil 90 fromoutside.

A sealing ring 79 is disposed between the housing 70 and the reservoirtank 1 to prevent oil leakage. Advantageously, a mounting groove isformed on an outer surface of the housing 70 adjoining a side surface ofthe reservoir tank 1 such that the sealing ring 79 made of a resilientmaterial is mounted on the mounting groove.

Interfaces between the housing 70 and the reservoir tank 1 may be formedwith threads for fastening the housing 70 and the reservoir tank 1 toeach other. The housing 70 and the reservoir tank 1 may be coupled toeach other in a variety of other ways.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, the vane pump 10 includes a cam ring 50having an inner surface of a major arc portion and an inner surface of aminor arc portion, a rotor 14 mounted inside the cam ring 50 and havingguide grooves radially formed on the rotor 14, and a plurality of vanes34 inserted into the guide grooves and moving along the inner surfacesof the cam ring 50.

The vane pump 10 is divided into a front body 60 and a rear cover 12which are coupled to each other by the fastening bolts 18 and define anouter appearance of the vane pump 10.

Since the vane pump 10 is disposed in the hydraulic oil 90, a separatesealing member is not provided between the front body 60 and the rearcover 12.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cam ring 50 accommodating the rotor 14therein is mounted on an upper side of the front body 60, and a sideplate 40, a leaf spring 32 and the rear cover 12 are sequentiallymounted on the upper side of the cam ring 50 and the rotor 14.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the front body 60 constituting a front sideof the vane pump 10 is formed with suction ports 82, through which thehydraulic oil 90 is suctioned into the vane pump 10, and the dischargeport 84 which communicates with the outlet channel 74 to discharge thecompressed hydraulic oil 90 to the outside.

A step is formed around the discharge port 84 and secured to the housing70 while adjoining the housing 70 to allow the compressed hydraulic oil90 to be supplied through the discharge port 84 which communicates withthe outlet channel 74.

In the vane pump 10, since a step or protrusion is not formed around thesuction ports 82 such that the suction ports 82 are separated from thehousing 70 to thereby form a suction connecting channel 88, thehydraulic oil 90 in the reservoir tank 1 is easily introduced into thesuction ports 82 of the vane pump 10 through the suction connectingchannel 88.

The shaft 80 is rotated by a power source and is coaxially connected tothe rotor 14, so that the rotor 14 and the vanes 34 are rotated when theshaft 80 is rotated.

As shown in FIG. 6, the cam ring 50 is formed in a ring shape and aninner surface thereof has an elliptic cylindrical shape, which has twomajor arcs and two minor arcs residing on orthogonal axes, respectively.

An inner surface of the cam ring 50 defining the minor arcs has asmaller diameter than an inn surface of the cam ring 50 defining themajor arcs.

The cam ring 50 is formed with suction communication holes 52communicating with the respective suction ports 82 of the front body 60and with a discharge communication hole 54 communicating with thedischarge port 84 of the front body 60.

A discharge path 86 is disposed between the cam ring 50 and the rearcover 12 to define a path through which a fluid flows from a pressurecompartment 30 towards the discharge port 84.

As shown in FIG. 7, an inner surface of the front body 60 facing therotor 14 is formed with two first discharge grooves 65, 65′ such thatthe discharge port 84 is connected to the first discharge groove 65′located at one side of the inner surface of the front body 60.

The front body 60 is also formed on the inner surface thereof with twofirst suction grooves 66, 66′, which are respectively connected to thesuction ports 82, to guide the hydraulic oil 90 into the vane pump 10.

As shown in FIG. 8, one side of the side plate 40 facing the rotor 14 isformed with second discharge grooves 42, 42′ and second suction grooves43, 43′.

A connection hole 44 is provided to the second discharge groove 42 ofthe side plate 40 so that a portion of the discharged fluid flows to thepressure compartment 30 therethrough.

The leaf spring 32 is disposed between the side plate 40 and the rearcover 12 to define a space in the pressure compartment 30 while causingthe front body 60, cam ring 50 and side plate 40 to come into closecontact with one another by elastic force of the leaf spring 32.

The rear cover 12 of the vane pump 10 is integrally formed with apipe-shaped valve housing 16, in which a relief valve 20 is integrallyformed.

The relief valve 20 communicates with the pressure compartment 30, towhich the fluid compressed by the vanes 34 is supplied, to maintain apreset hydraulic pressure in the pressure compartment 30.

The relief valve 20 includes a valve sheet 22 which is press-fitted intoa rear side of the rear cover 12, a ball member 24 which prevents thecompressed fluid from escaping upon rotation of the vanes 34, a retainer26 which holds the ball member 24, a valve spring 27 which compressesthe ball member 24, and an adjustment screw 28 which adjusts acompression force of the valve spring 27.

The adjustment screw 28 is formed with an outlet opening, so that thefluid in the relief valve 20 is discharged through the outlet openingand mixed with the hydraulic oil 90 inside the reservoir tank 1.

Fastening bolts 19 are inserted into the front body 60 through the rearcover 12 and prevent the side plate 40 and the cam ring 50 fromrotating.

As such, the cam ring 50, rotor 14 having the vanes 34 mounted thereon,side plate 40, leaf spring 32 and rear cover 12 are sequentially coupledto the front body 60 to constitute the vane pump 10 according to theembodiment. However, it should be understood that other devices may alsobe disposed inside the reservoir tank 1 to compress the hydraulic oil 90and employed as the vane pump 10 according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

Next, operation of the vane pump apparatus according to the embodimentwill be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The vane pump 10 is coupled to the housing 70 by coupling the fasteningbolts 18 of the vane pump 10 to the fastening holes 77 of the housing70.

Here, the discharge port 84 of the vane pump 10 is secured to thehousing 70 so as to communicate with the outlet channel 74 of thehousing 70 and the suction ports 82 of the vane pump 10 are separatedfrom the housing 70 to thereby facilitate introduction of hydraulic oil90 from the reservoir tank 1 into the suction ports 82.

When rotating force is transmitted to the shaft 80 through the shaftconnecting hole 76, the rotor 14 is rotated inside the cam ring 50 byrotation of the shaft 80.

The hydraulic oil 90 stored inside the reservoir tank 1 flows into thesuction ports 82 of the front body 60 through the suction connectingchannel 88 and is then supplied to suction regions S of the rotor 14through the second suction grooves 43, 43′ of the side plate 40 via thefirst suction grooves 66, 66′ of the front body 60 and the suctioncommunication holes 52 of the cam ring 50.

As the rotor 14 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction (see FIG.6), the hydraulic oil 90 flowing into the suction regions S iscompressed therein and is then discharged through discharge regions D ofthe rotor 14.

Specifically, the compressed hydraulic oil 90 in the first dischargegroove 65′ and the second discharge groove 42′ communicating with thedischarge port 84 is directly discharged into the discharge port 84through the discharge communication hole 54.

The hydraulic oil 90 in the first discharge groove 65 and the seconddischarge groove 42, which do not directly communicate with thedischarge port 84, flows into the pressure compartment 30 through theconnection hole 44 and is then supplied to the discharge port 84 thoughthe discharge path 86 disposed between the cam ring 50 and the rearcover 12.

The hydraulic oil 90 flowing into the outlet channel 74 along thedischarge port 84 is conveyed to a hydraulic line through the hydraulicsupply hole 72.

In the embodiment with the structure described above, the vane pump 10is disposed inside the reservoir tank 1 to eliminate a sealing memberfor preventing oil leakage from the vane pump 10, thereby enabling areduction in size and weight of the vane pump 10.

Further, periodic inspection for oil leakage from the vane pump 10according to the embodiment is not necessary, thereby improvingoperability and reducing manufacturing costs thereof throughsimplification of an overhaul process.

Although some embodiments have been provided to illustrate the presentdisclosure in conjunction with the drawings, it will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that these embodiments are given by way ofillustration only and that various modifications, changes, andalternations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure should belimited only by the accompanying claims and equivalents thereof.

1. A vane pump apparatus comprising: a housing having an outlet channel;a reservoir tank coupled to the housing and receiving hydraulic oil; anda vane pump disposed inside the reservoir tank and discharging thecompressed hydraulic oil to the outlet channel, wherein the vane pump isformed at a front side thereof with a suction port, through which thehydraulic oil is suctioned into the vane pump, and a discharge portcommunicating with the outlet channel, and wherein a portion around thesuction port is separated from the housing to define a suctionconnecting channel.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the housing isa sidewall body or a motor housing.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, whereina sealing ring is disposed between the housing and the reservoir tank toprevent oil leakage.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vane pumpis integrally formed with a valve housing on which a relief valve ismounted.